


The In-Law Experience

by TheAuthorGod



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Best Friends, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Thanksgiving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAuthorGod/pseuds/TheAuthorGod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Jess journeyed out to her parents' place, so Dean took up Cas' offer to celebrate Thanksgiving with them.  It's nice to know that there's another family to welcome him into their home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The In-Law Experience

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry that it's late.
> 
> UNEDIT'D. UNBETA'D. UNPROOF'D. Story is mine; characters are not.

Dean felt bad for being late. It wasn’t like he was trying to be late, but Sam’s dog needed to be fed and walked and everything while Sam and Jess were at her parent’s for Thanksgiving.  
  
It was cute really, the two of them dropping their busy school lives completely. Jess even convinced Sam to leave his textbooks behind, which Dean thought was an early holiday miracle.  
  
Pulling up to the house, Dean tugged the key from the ignition and stepped out. It wasn’t as cold as a hallmark movie would have it. Dean would be comfortably warm in only a light sweater and loose jeans; he was stubborn, though, and, since he brought his coat along, he wore it. After grabbing the food carrier from the floor on the passenger’s side, he trudged over to where he could already see the Miltons running around just inside the window.  
  
Since Sam and Jess had hit the road, Dean had taken Cas up on his offer for having him over for Thanksgiving.  
  
Cas had been asking Dean every year for the last 7 years or more. They’d been close friends for a long time, but usually he spent his holiday with his brother or with their extended family. This year was different. Sam was gone with Jess. Bobby, Ellen, and Jo flew out for a ski trip. Charlie was busy with Dorothy’s little cousins, beating them at video games last Dean had been updated via text.  
  
Banging his boots on the edge of the top step, Dean took a deep breath. He wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. On a good day, Cas’ family was a little off; honestly, Dean was expecting downright eccentric for the holiday.  
  
The inner door was open, so only a glass pane stood between Dean and the entry way.  
  
Cas didn’t live at home; he lived in a dorm at the private university on the other side of town. His parents had opted to give him as much of the ‘college experience’ as he could get even if he wasn’t going very far.  
  
Scoffing at the thought, Dean rolled his eyes in the slight chill. Cas wasn’t even taking advantage of the dorm room. He spent his time studying and being an all around nerd. It was hilarious. Dean had always thought that ‘good little student Cas’ would finally get some freedom and take it a little too far, but, so far, he hadn’t changed at all.  
  
The thought made Dean smile.  
  
On the other side of the glass door, Cas thumped down the stairs and noticed Dean. He rushed to the door and pushed it open, almost pushing Dean off of the small porch in the process. “Hello, Dean.” He had a wide gummy smile stretched across his sharp jaw.  
  
“Heya, Cas.” Dean stepped in. The entry way was easily large enough to comfortably accommodate three people putting on their coats, but Cas didn’t move away and fill the space. Instead, he and Dean stood crowded to the door, almost touching. Dean felt a rush of heat in his… everywhere. It must have been because he stepped into a toasty house. Duh.  
  
“Come on, Dean, take off your coat so I can hug you properly.” Cas huffed impatiently, his hands, covered with his too-long, burnt orange sweater, patted awkwardly on his thighs. His blue eyes shined up at Dean, waiting.  
  
Quickly, Dean shrugged off the coat and placed the food carrier on the ground next to him. If he was going to hug Cas, he was going to hug him without the awkward weight of a food carrier. He swung his coat onto the bare hook third in from the door then turned around to Cas.  
  
Launching forward, Cas settled himself to Dean’s front, tucking his head in under Dean’s head. “How are you?” Cas’ question rumbled into Dean’s chest slightly. It made him extremely happy to hear and, uh, feel.  
  
“Good.” Dean squeezed his arms tighter around his friend. They had been best friends throughout middle school and high school. It had almost killed Dean when it had turned out that Cas was going to a different college. Cas was the whole reason that Dean decided to go to college in the first place. Neither of them went very far, but, with school and work and Dean’s second job and homework, they didn’t get to see each other very often. Dean was going to savor any bit of physical contact he could get over the next few hours.  
  
Sighing, Cas began to pull away. “So, what did you bring?” His eyes darted to the food carrier what Dean had brought in.  
  
It was a double-decker casserole caddy. Dean took pride in the fact that he knew what it was. Dean grinned. “What do you think I brought?” His voice came out playful. It was like he was falling right back into place next to Cas. It was like riding a bike, muscle memory.  
  
Cas bit his lip. “I hope you didn’t bring pie. Between my pie and the three that Gabe brought, I think we have enough.” Cas face had evened out from some of the teenage blotchiness and acne. He was still tan despite that he probably hadn’t bathing in the sun in the current weather.  
  
“I did bring pie.”  
  
Deflating a little, Cas stepped back and pretended to be woozy from the utter horror that was Dean bringing another pie.  
  
Dean laughed before he continued, “Don’t worry, dude, I brought shepherd’s pie. And I brought some savory bread pudding.”  
  
“Some what?” Cas’ eyes squinted in confusion and his nose wrinkled up. It was adorable as always.  
  
Shaking his head to dislodge the thought, Dean hastened to respond. “Bread bits and broth and spices and such.” Dean tried not to notice Cas tilt his head.  
  
But, Cas did. His tousled permanent-bed-head followed the movement with a small bounce. His hair had to be a perfect length to do that. It was really cute, like a puppy with its ears perked up. “Isn’t that just dressing?” Cas quirked one end of his mouth a tiny bit, teasing. He turned and started to lead Dean to the kitchen.  
  
Dean pushed out a long breath and tried to release the heat from his rising blush with it. Being away from Cas had left him forgetting one key detail; Dean was completely in love with his best friend.  
  
\---  
  
Dean ended up sitting between Cas’ younger sister, Hannah, and his mother, Colette. They were nice people, but he wasn’t entirely sure why he had ended up sitting there.  
  
The chairs around their table were mismatched, a tell-tale sign of their more bizarre lifestyle. The buffet on the other side of the room was full of food. There was a honey-glazed ham; the honey came from Cas’ family’s bee hives. Turkey with Stuffing sat next to it on a large crystal dish. Among the sides were carrot soufflé, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, and Dean’s additions.  
  
There was enough food to feed an army. Dean would have been worried about leftovers, except, that there was probably enough people to eat it. It wasn’t only Cas’ immediate family. It was also his Aunt Anna and her two kids, Michael and Lucy. Colette’s and Balthazar’s mother, Naomi, had waltzed in last minute with a real-fur wrap. Cas’ Uncle Balthazar had also flown in. It was quite a sight.  
  
The only way to tell who was and wasn’t family was to look at their eyes. Almost all of them had blue eyes. Dean’s green eyes probably stuck out like a sore thumb. The only other eye color represented was hazel and that was Gabe, who was sitting directly across from Dean and grinning like he had a secret.  
  
Dean almost groaned out loud.  
  
From the little that Cas had spoken to Dean about his extended family, Dean knew that Cain’s family was closer to pagan in their traditions and that Colette’s family was Catholic. Dean held his breath while he waited for what was going to be an interesting prayer.  
  
Family meals at the Winchester household never included saying grace; it reminded everyone of the late Mary Winchester. She’d always had them say grace over special meals.  
  
Surprisingly, her memory did not dampen his intrigue for the situation. He watched Cas intently for cues.  
  
Everyone was really still when Cain brought his hands up at the head of the table. He nodded to Naomi across from him, solemn. She lifted her chin in response, clasping her hands on top of her plate. It looked more like a business transaction than a familial exchange.  
  
Cain began, “We give thanks for this good, green earth and all that lives on it.”  
  
Naomi spoke next, “Dear lord, we thank you for the creation you saw was good.”  
  
Then Cain, “We thank the Great Breath for giving us life and new life.”  
  
Then Naomi, “Lord, we thank you for your spirit washing over us anew.”  
  
Back, “We thank you for flame and warmth during this cold season.”  
  
And forth, “Lord, we thank you for providing shelter and clothing.”  
  
“We thank you for renewing waters after first-life. We thank you for the soil that has brought forth the harvest.”  
  
“Lord, we thank you for your holy waters of baptism and the bountiful food we will feast on.”  
  
It continued in that sort of matter. It was relaxing, maybe a bit repetitive. It was enjoyable though, and, when Dean peeked, he could see Cas’ face growing a smile and then that smile growing bigger and bigger.  
  
Under all the fancy praying, Dean felt that he was thankful for Cas’ smile.  
  
Cain’s final petition went like, “We will learn to live with open hands and open hearts, in peace and in balance. We give thanks.”  
  
Followed by Naomi’s final petition, “Lord, help us to live in your image. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”  
  
There was a round of ‘Thanks’ and ‘Amen’ afterward. Dean only nodded.  
  
Then it was time to eat. Dean waited so he could walk along the buffet with Cas, slowly walking over to where the food was set out. It surprised him when Cas whipped by and headed straight for the kitchen without even picking up his plate from the table. Doubling back, Dean picked up the forgotten plate and made his way toward the food again. “Hey, Cas, didn’t you forget something?” He held of the plate and twisted it back and forth.  
  
Poking his head out of the kitchen, Cas scoffed. “I was getting the drinks.”  
  
Flushing a little, Dean let the hand with Cas’ plate drop to his side, awkwardly. He looked around feeling embarrassed. No one really noticed though, too busy making selections and comments over the food.  
  
Cas grinned. “It’s okay. How about I carry the pitchers and you can dish out what I want?”  
  
Agreeing easily, Dean moved with Cas to the end of the line.  
  
They easily filled the plates. Each would have to get a second plate to taste each of the sides one time. Dean tried to dish some dessert onto his plate only to be tutted away. It turned out that they wouldn’t eat the desserts until later.  
  
Arriving back at the table, Cas put down the pitchers and people began to fill their glasses with sweet tea or water. He turned and took his plate from Dean, smiling gratefully.  
  
With food in front of them, people lapsed into a munching and crunching silence. Dean looked around. To anyone else, it would look like a regular thanksgiving. To everyone at the table, it probably was. He laughed and brought some gravy smothered turkey to his mouth.  
  
It was then that he noticed that Gabe, still sitting across from him, had an entire plate heaped high with only macaroni and cheese. After a moment of contemplation, Dean decided not to mention it.  
  
\---  
  
After a few tense conversations, the ‘kids’ – anyone Gabriel-aged, which was legal drinking age, and younger – were excused to clean the kitchen, buffet, dishes, etc. Cas’ duty was washing dishes, so Dean fell into step next to him, like they used to after dinner at their sleepovers in 6th and 7th grade. Dean brought in the dishes once Gabe and Michael had moved the food into plastic bags.  
  
“Why plastic bags?” Dean had never stored food like that. Everything, even the jellied cranberry sauce was going into sandwich bags.  
  
Shrugging with a dish cloth over one shoulder and a sponge in hand, Cas turned, wiping green bean casserole from a slotted spoon. “It’s easier to put in the fridge that way, I guess.” He put the wiped off but not clean spoon in the dishwasher and moved on to the next thing.  
  
Toward the end, there was no room left in the dishwasher, so Cas was washing things in earnest and Dean dried them, taking the towel from Cas’ shoulder.  
  
It was a dance that they’d done before, many times. Sometimes, though, Dean had to ask where something went, the information lost to time or change. Cas’ face would become tight in those moments, and Dean wasn’t entirely sure why.  
  
It wasn’t long before Cain waltzed in. “So, Dean, are you sticking around?”  
  
Honestly, Dean hadn’t been planning on it, but they hadn’t let him eat dessert yet so…. While he’d been looking forward to heading back, planting himself into the couch, and watching the rest of the first season of How To Get Away With Murder, he was probably going to fall to the temptation of pie. Even if he hadn’t been on the edge already, he would’ve been when he caught sight of Cas.  
  
Cas wasn’t wearing an expression that could be read by some random bystander. He was wearing his little quirk of his mouth and little quirk of his closest eyebrow that meant that he was hoping that Dean would stick around. Dean found that he couldn’t say no to that face.  
  
“I can.” Dean drew out, turning back to Cain, eyes lingering slightly on Cas’. “You planning anything in particular?” From the corner of his eye, Dean saw Cas hold out the next pan and he took it automatically.  
  
Cain put his hands on his hips and turned on the spot. He leaned back a little toward Dean and whispered. “Well, Naomi is about to go home. Then, we put up the lights, take our stab at dessert, and pull out the alcohol.” When he turned a little back toward Dean, he could’ve sworn that Cain’s eyes were literally glowing with mischief.  
  
With a shudder, Dean realized that it was where Gabriel got it from.  
  
\---  
  
As soon as Naomi was in her car and Anna drove off with her children, Cain was pushing the remaining family out the door and toward the garage. “Let’s go, let’s go. We have to get this show on the road. We’re losing daylight!” He tugged up the door to the garage grinning wide.  
  
Balthazar waved to them and made a beeline for his car.  
  
That meant that it was going to be the immediate Milton family and Dean. Dean laughed and helped to take out the boxes. He helped Cas to pull out the strands of multicolored lights and attempt to put them in some sort of order.  
  
Gabe was setting up the timers and extension cords. Hannah was practically crying over the fact that none of the light up creatures seemed to be working.  
  
It took them a while to set out the lights. Dean followed Cas around a bit like a puppy at first, stuck in the weird limbo of being completely a part of the family and being a house guest. When Hannah and Cas began to get on each other’s nerves, he ended up mediating. When Gabe stole light strands from Cas’ carefully laid out plan, Dean had to hold Cas back. It was just like the old days.  
  
Dean missed it all. Despite the bittersweet feeling in his chest, Dean ended up smiling more than he thought he would.  
  
Cain did more supervising than anything else. He would stand in a particular spot with a hand stroking his beard, looking over their work so far. He’d hum and tilt his head at the lights.  
  
Finishing up the last of the front bushes with Hannah, Dean turned looking for Cas. He found him with string lights at the hedge in front of the kitchen window.  
  
It turned out that Cain didn’t believe in net lights, so even the bushes had to be wrapped haphazardly in string lights.  
  
“Hey, Dean, how about you take these and go wrap the tree over there.” Cain clapped his shoulder and dumped four different strands of clear lights into his arms.  
  
Nodding, Dean headed that way. He wasn’t entirely sure what they wanted, but he was too scared to ask. He stared at the tree for a long moment, the strands sitting in his arms, somewhat tangled and limp.  
  
He was startled from his thoughts when Cas walked over and crossed his arms over his chest. “Come on, you’re the genius here. Can you really not figure out how to wrap lights around a tree?” He grinned.  
  
The words threw Dean back into high school when everyone thought he was just a dumb rower. He had top grades, but they were never acknowledged like Cas’, the book worm’s. Cas had always been kind enough to point out how smart Dean was as well. It warmed Dean’s chest.  
  
Things hadn’t changed that much. Cas was still Cas.  
  
Dean’s chest constricted.  
  
Smile softening into something close to admiration, Cas blinked slow. “I can probably help. Dad sent me over this way.” Cas reached for the lights in Dean’s arms.  
  
“Get back over here! You need to finish this bush here!” Cain called over to Cas.  
  
Dean rolled his eyes. Cas deflated and turned an annoyed look over his shoulder in his father’s direction. Almost reluctantly, he trudged away through the orange pine needles and fall leaves littering the ground with color.  
  
Wrestling with the tree proved more strenuous than Dean had thought. When he had finished, Cain came over to inspect. He peered at it and walked around it. “You know we may have to call you to take it down.” He leaned in closer to the trunk. “How did you manage that?”  
  
Blushing, Dean tried to cover his fluster by tucking his chin to his chest. He wasn’t sure if it was praise or criticism, but the thought of being needed was nice. “Sorry.”  
  
Laughing, Cain leaned away from the tree and grabbed at Dean’s bicep for a moment, a motion of camaraderie. “Boy, it just gives me a reason to call you around again.” He smiled; his hand fell. “The house is so much quieter now that you’re gone.” He moved away to look over someone else’s work.  
  
A pang hit through Dean’s chest. It was one of those things that parents say when their kids leave for college. Dean never thought he’d hear something like that. Swallowing, he forced himself to continue with the lights.  
  
“You have to make the pond now.”  
  
“What?” Dean turned around to see Hannah there with strands of blue lights.  
  
She dumped them into his hands. “Around the bottom of the tree.” She used her now free hand to point at the base of the tree. “Make it look like a pond.” She grinned and strode away to carry on.  
  
How was he supposed to make a pond out of string Christmas lights?  
  
Dean harrumphed and started that long process.  
  
\---  
  
After the lights were done and checked and redone because Gabe forgot to plug test some of them. One of the strands that Dean had complicatedly wrapped around the tree didn’t work. Unwilling to undo his work or possibly because he wasn’t sure how to, Dean wrapped another strand around it, filling in the unlit portion. Cas stood next to him almost too close. Dean narrowly missed hitting him with his elbow twice.  
  
“You have so much patience.” Cas mumbled, hands pushed into his pockets.  
  
Dean scoffed. “I really don’t.” He carefully wound the lights around his hand so he could thread them between the branches easily.  
  
“More than me.” Huffing, Cas sunk into his hip a bit and balled his fists into the ends of his sweater sleeves. “I would have left parts of the tree unlit.”  
  
Barking a laugh, Dean almost dropped the lights in his hand.  
  
“It’s nice,” Cas said from behind him.  
  
Dean finished the last of the tree. “Yeah. It’s something.” Dean stepped back to look at it. Without the light-up animals, the tree and pond looked like a melting icicle. When he turned, Cas wasn’t looking at the tree, though, he was smiling at Dean.  
  
Hannah groaned in the background.  
  
It snapped Dean’s away from Cas’ hypnotizing blue eyes.  
  
The groan wasn’t at them, though. It was at Cain who was pulling out new boxes. Dean’s warm feeling dissipated a little. “Now, what?”  
  
Hannah spun to Cas with a horrified expression. “He’s pulling out the balls.”  
  
“Why?” Cas whined.  
  
“Because Dad likes to show off his balls.” Gabe stepped into place on the opposite side of Dean as his siblings. Dean and Gabe laughed at the joke. It didn’t take long for Cas to reprimand them for it.  
  
\---  
  
The ‘balls’ were huge ass ornaments that they hung in the trees with industrial size, green zip ties. After suffering thought Cas’ complaining, Cain gave the more rickety ladder over, so he wouldn’t be the one climbing up and down on it.  
  
It seemed that the job became Dean’s. Dean ended up going up and down the rickety ladder and zip tying multicolored and sparkly ornaments to the trees.  
  
By some unsaid agreement, Hannah was stuck bring over ornaments, Gabe held the shorter ladder for Cain, and that left Cas bracing himself against the bottom of Dean’s ladder. Cas’ complaining did not cease when Cain stopped climbing the rickety ladder; it only seemed to get worse when it was Dean’s safety in jeopardy.  
  
At the top of the a-frame Dean looked down and grinned a little. “You know that I’ve been on less stable stuff before.” He stepped down. “I work under cars in an old garage.”  
  
Cas turned a hard glance at Dean. “Don’t remind me.”  
  
A short laugh burst from Dean as he climbed down. Cas had never liked heavy machinery; it was cute. The moment was broken by Hannah handing Dean a big blue ball.  
  
Automatically, Dean grabbed the other side of the ladder and they moved it to the next limb. Dean climbed back up. “Here or here?” Dean grabbed the limb at two different junctions.  
  
Since Dean had asked the question every time, Cas huffed in aggravation. “Does it really matter?”  
  
Tucking his chin, Dean glared down at him in response.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Cas’ eyes narrowed and responded in a severely sarcastic voice, “Wherever you want, dear.”  
  
Their eyes caught each other for a little too long. Dean tried not to show that the pet name, even sarcastically, had affected him. He wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded.  
  
\---  
  
Finally, they got back inside to eat dinner. It wasn’t really dinner. It was dessert. They hadn’t eaten any before as per the unsaid rules of the Milton house.  
  
Dean got helpings of all the pies. Cas’ was the best, obviously.  
  
With a new food coma coming on, they all retired to the family room. Dean and Cas started out next to each other, but soon slipped into their old habits. In the end, they had a blanket over their twined-together legs and Dean was sunk into the sofa enough that he could tuck his head onto Cas’ shoulder.  
  
Falling into the old familiarity, Cas’ hand came up and began to stroke at the side of Dean’s jaw and hairline. Hannah nodded off eventually. Gabe went to his room to work on some of his presentations for his pre-med courses.  
  
Suddenly, Cain coughed and patted his wife’s thigh. “I think we should go and deal with the, uh, kitchen.” They left shortly after he made the comment and could be heard giggling and opening the wine cabinet before retreating upstairs.  
  
Cas produced something between and sigh and a laugh.  
  
From his perch on Cas’ shoulder, Dean turned. “What is it?”  
  
“It’s just… They have no tact. At all.” Cas shifted so that Dean was pressed more into his chest and he was looking down at Dean. His fingers became surer in Dean’s hair and on his skin. “They seem to think that something’s going to happen.”  
  
Dean closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. It was something that he had missed in the months that they hadn’t seen each other. In a small voice, he accidentally voiced his next thought, “Well, is it?”  
  
The fingers at the side of his head froze.  
  
Frightened, Dean snapped his eyes open.  
  
Cas’ face was spread in shock. Eventually, he swallowed; Dean could hear it from where he was practically tucked under Cas’ chin. Cas clenched his jaw for a moment. “Are you ready for it to happen?”  
  
What they had wasn’t a secret. Cas liked Dean and Dean liked Cas. It was one of those instances of ‘why fix what isn’t broken?’  
  
Flicking his eyes between Cas’ lips and his eyes, Dean nodded a little. It was probably impossible to see, but Cas would be able to feel Dean’s chin move.  
  
A charged second passed before Cas nodded too. It was somewhere between acceptance and determination and Dean wasn’t sure what to expect. Cas’ face was always a mixture of juxtaposing emotions.  
  
Finally, Cas leaned forward a tiny bit, tilting his head and leading with his lips. Dean took the hint; he leaned up, putting hand on Cas’ chest for leverage.  
  
What began as a chaste kiss morphed when Cas’ arms hooked around Dean’s back and pulled him up closer and undeniably into his lap.  
  
When Dean managed to pull away to look down at Cas, he smirked. “I just had to test out the in-law experience.”  
  
Rolling his eyes in jest, Cas just pulled Dean down to meet him in another heated kiss.  
  
Hannah awoke, having been forgotten since she’s a sound and quiet sleeper, to an eyeful that she had never wanted to be privy to. Dean swore that everything important was under the covers. Despite Dean’s claims, she screeched, making all around disgusted noises, and ran to her room. Beyond the sound of a dying pterodactyl, though, Dean could almost make out a victorious yell from Cain.  
  
They were eccentric, but they were another home.


End file.
